Canaccord Genuity Group Raises Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $270.00

Key Points

• Canaccord Genuity Group has raised its price target for Alphabet stock from $230.00 to $270.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.06%. The brokerage currently maintains a "buy" rating on the stock.
• Several other analysts have also increased their price targets for Alphabet, with Barclays targeting $250.00 and Needham raising it to $260.00, reflecting strong sentiment towards the company.
• Insiders have recently sold significant shares of Alphabet stock, indicating movement in ownership, while hedge funds have increased their positions in the company substantially.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Canaccord Genuity Group from $230.00 to $270.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the information services provider's stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Westpark Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.33.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $2.70 during trading on Thursday, reaching $235.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 46,562,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,713,716. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $195.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $235.76.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.